Cook Islands

In the Cook Islands, PSDI-supported reforms are making it easier to start, manage, and finance a business. 

We have been working with the Government of Cook Islands to:

• Develop a secured transactions framework that will make it easier for lenders to accept movable assets as collateral;

• Design and develop an online domestic Companies, Incorporated Societies, and Personal Property Securities Registry, which launched in December 2019;

• Create clear and inclusive company laws, including the Companies Bill, which passed Cook Islands Parliament in December 2017, and became active with the December 2019 registry launch;

• Strengthen the financial position of Bank of Cook Islands, and build its capacity to identify and manage operational risks;

• Review the legislative, governance, and monitoring framework for Cook Islands’ SOEs; and

• Support reforms through advocacy and analysis, including a comprehensive assessment of the private sector published in 2015: The Cook Islands: Stronger Investment Climate for Sustainable Growth.

Resources and Spending

PSDI has increased its activity in the Cook Islands over the past few years, with almost one-third of the $1,459,028 in total funding spent in 2018–2019.

Spending on business law reform, which includes the development of an online companies registry and associated legal reform, accounts for 52% of all spending in the Cook Islands. Competition and Consumer Protection received the second highest proportion—20%—of overall allocations to Cook Islands. This included the preparation of a Telecommunications Bill and a Multi-sector Regulator Bill, which both passed Parliament in 2019.

On this website, $ refers to US dollars unless otherwise stated.

For detailed information on PSDI activities in the Cook Islands, download the April 2020 PSDI Country Overview here.